Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant operated safely during calendar year 2018, officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday.

A public meeting was held at Athens City Hall for residents who wanted to find out more about the plant’s performance. NRC and Tennessee Valley Authority officials took time to answer questions from the public about Limestone County’s primary power source.

Simply put, the plant remained in what the NRC calls Column 1, which indicates optimal performance for the year.

“Safety is always our overriding priority, and we’re proud of the safety record we have at Browns Ferry,” said TVA spokesperson Malinda Hunter.

A wide-ranging supplemental inspection, which requires 2,000 hours or more, was completed in February 2018. Regular baseline inspections are held throughout the year. Browns Ferry also has three NRC resident inspectors on site at all times.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary for the whole year,” said NRC spokesman Joey Ledford. “Browns Ferry performed fairly well.”

Tom Stephen, the senior resident inspector, said 2018 activities at the plant included the completion of post-Fukushima upgrades required by the NRC. Those upgrades, including efforts to preserve containment, were made to all three units.

NRC ordered nuclear plants to make safety enhancements following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.

Other changes at the plant included shifting to new fire regulations as defined by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 805.

“The changes are to make the plant safer with more focused protection of areas,” Stephen said, describing the new regulations as more of a risk-based approach. “With previous regulations, we had to prevent fire everywhere in every possible way. Now, we’re protecting areas that are most important, so we’re focusing our efforts, energy and equipment on those areas. It’s more smart and holistic.”

Looking ahead

Plant operators and contractors are still in the process of completing modifications as part of an Extended Power Uprate on all three reactors. Stephen said Unit 1 and Unit 3 are complete, while work continues on Unit 2.

“They are in the testing phase and almost at 100% power,” he said. “There will be different steps and review points for us. (TVA) will give information to the NRC, and once we approve that, we’ll allow them to go to the 100% plateau, probably sometime around mid-summer.”

The EPU modifications, Stephen said, would make Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant the largest producer of electricity in the U.S., or at least until Units 3 and 4 go online at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia.

“When the final unit gets signed off on, we’ll have an additional 465 megawatts added to an existing asset,” Hunter said. “That’s really a great benefit, because it powers another 280,000 homes. We’re proud of what Browns Ferry is doing for the Valley.”